Avesta
| Avesta | |
|---|---|
French translation of the Avesta by Polish Orientalist Ignacy Pietraszewski, Berlin, 1858. | |
| Information | |
| Religion | Zoroastrianism |
| Language | Avestan |
| Period | Avestan period (c. 1500–c. 400 BCE) |
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The Avesta (/əˈvɛstə/, Book Pahlavi: ʾp(y)stʾk' (abestāg), Persian: اوستا (avestâ)) is the text corpus of religious literature of Zoroastrianism.[1] All its texts are composed in the Avestan language and written in the Avestan alphabet.[2] Modern editions of the Avesta are based on the various manuscripts that have survived in India and Iran.[3]
The individual texts of the Avesta were originally oral compositions.[4] They were composed over a long period of several centuries during the Old Iranian period (possibly ranging from 15th century BCE – 4th century BCE).[5] The written transmission began during the Sassanian period, with the creation of the Avestan alphabet. The resulting texts were then compiled into a comprehensive edition of the Avesta in 21 volumes.[6] This edition was lost sometime after the 10th century CE and only a small part survived through a series of different manuscript traditions. The oldest surviving fragment of such a manuscript dates to 1323 CE.[7]
Unlike the Sasanian Avesta, which was organized thematically, the surviving Avestan manuscripts correspond to the different ceremonies in which they are used.[8] It is assumed that it was their regular use which ensured their survival to this day.[9] The principal text is the Yasna, which takes its name from the corresponding ceremony, in which it is recited. Extensions to the Yasna ceremony include the Vendidad and the Visperad.[10] In addition to these High Liturgies, the Avestan corpus comprises shorter litugical texts compiled in the Khordeh Avesta or "Little Avesta". Aside from the Yashts, these other lesser texts include the Nyayeshs, the Gāhs, the Sih-rozag and the Afrinagans.[10]
- ^ Vevaina 2013, p. 996: "The Avesta, conventionally referred to as the “Sacred Book of the Persians” is, in fact, an orally transmitted, liturgically based, corpus redacted by the Zoroastrian priesthood".
- ^ Boyce 1984, p. 1.
- ^ Hintze 2012, p. 419.
- ^ Skjaervø 2012.
- ^ Cantera 2012, "The Avestan texts were probably composed in Eastern Iran between the second half of the 2nd millennium bce and the end of the Achaemenid dynasty".
- ^ Kellens 1987, "The Sasanian Avesta. It has now been established beyond any doubt that the known Avestan Vulgate originates from a canon which was arranged and written down under the Sasanians".
- ^ Boyce 1984, p. 1.
- ^ Cantera 2012, "Almost all Avestan texts preserved in the manuscripts are ritual texts performed in the different Zoroastrian rituals".
- ^ West 1892, chap. Introduction: "[B]ut when, through conversion and extermination, the Mazda-worshippers had become a mere remnant, [...] they rapidly lost all their old literature that was not in daily religious use".
- ^ a b Boyce 1984, p. 3.